The man went forward to the place, moved in between two of the gentlemen, and sat down. He had just the time to put his thighs onto the seat when he melted away just like a ball of lead, and was lost from sight right before everyone, so that they did not know what had become of him. And when they saw that he had thus perished, everyone else wanted to sit in the place. But the king ordered the worthy gentlemen to stand up, so that after they had got up from the table no one would know which was the place, and they all rose straightway.

The sorrow in the court was great, and the court was utterly distraught by this wonder. The king was more aghast than anyone else, and he thought he had been made a fool of. He said for all to hear that Merlin had plainly told him before that no one should take that seat, and that that man did not want to believe him; the king himself had forbidden it, but the man would not give up just for that—so did the king explain himself.

Vulgate Merlin